David Machado, owner of Nel Centro at the Hotel Modera will be running two more restaurants, both inside the Hotel Eastlund. Never heard of it? According to the Oregonian, the Red Lion Hotel near the convention center will be closing September 2nd, will reopen in 2014 after a complete gutting.
When it reopens in May, … [Read more...]

The top results are quite similar to previous years, so I won't ask this question in 2014. Ok, I will. It is interesting how many restaurants which were voted near the top in previous years did not make the 2013 list. Missing are Southpark, The Heathman, Gruner, Bluehour and Nostrana.
Out of 668 total … [Read more...]

I thought I'd throw in this question for 2012: now that I have dining room listings, I get lots of emails about which place I think is best.
1. Andina - Four private dining rooms. 1314 Northwest Glisan Street Portland, OR 97209 Map (503) 228-9535 My review
2. Portland City Grill - Several rooms that can be … [Read more...]

Where to go to impress a client. These austere days, three martini lunches at places like Morton's and El Gaucho are out. In 2011, the order of votes was Higgins, The Heathman and Little Bird.
568 people voted:
Little Bird Bistro - 13% of the vote. 219 Southwest 6th Avenue Portland, OR 97204 Map (503) … [Read more...]

More news from the Vancouver Sun. In addition to the previously mentioned food cart article, they also ran an online story called "Recipes from Portland's top chefs".
There must have been some arm-twisting behind the scenes, as the included recipes are for dishes that have received high praise from the Portland … [Read more...]

Dovetail Bakery has opened at NE 31st and Alberta. I'm told they used to be be in the wholesale baking business in St. Johns. According to my source, they have good items.
I twittered last month about Chef Paul Hyman of Nel Centro getting the boot. Reviews around town have been mixed at best. The … [Read more...]

Nel Centro, Dave Machado's latest venture, is a hard-hat-only area in late March. Standing amid buckets of grout and workers using acetylene torches, Machado explains how he came to open his third Portland restaurant in the eight-thousand-square-foot space on the ground floor of the Hotel Modera.
"You remember what … [Read more...]